Heading to Plattekill for Shoulder Season

Spring was sure to make an appearance at some point this month, but it was hard to believe that hot on the heels of one of the biggest dumps of the season we’d be skiing without our shells.

Plattekill-Trail

After devouring the pow harvest from my desk on Friday, my brother and I were champing at the bit to ski. Our enthusiasm spread, and we ended up back at Plattekill with several others who came to the mountain for the first time.

I didn’t have to look in the rearview mirror to see the quizzical looks as we drove past Belleayre. I could feel the lasers bouncing off of my neck and quickly pointed out that when skiing, going the extra mile is often worth the effort.

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Clarence Fahnestock Had A Dream

Having spent a good deal of my life on skis, I was always aware of that hole in my resume: nordic skiing. I resolved to fix it this season, with several opportunities for guiding on my winter calendar. I was looking forward to this trip, but I must admit, as an addicted downhiller, at first, I found it difficult to get excited for a nordic day when there was fresh pow in the mountains.

Fahnestock Winter Park Instagram

I’m familiar with Fahnestock Winter Park. I’d passed it so many times, both underneath it on Route 9, to get to the more popular Breakneck Ridge, and through it on the Taconic State Parkway.  I have hiked there many times and the trails are often empty.  The AT runs right through the park on its way to Connecticut, which in my mind, gives the place a little more character.

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Hunter Mountain Snowmaking Silk

Gun running has been a persistent topic of conversation over the past year in the mainstream media. We —the subversives at the NYSkiBlog— have taken to giving it a new meaning.

Hunter Mountain Snowmaking

Instead of an illicit trade, we use the term to describe that awesome experience of skiing top quality manmade cold silk snow under the guns at ski resorts in the Northeast. To be completely forthright, skiing under the guns today during the work week felt way too good to be legal.

The product on the slopes of Hunter was the best manmade snow I have ever skied.  It’s simple science; super cold temps + compressed air + water = pure silk. Arctic cold for days, dozens of canons and fan guns, meant that it was laid down in bulk.

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